Democracy ‘necessary’ in Iraq

President Bush yesterday said democracy in Iraq is an imperative, not an option, as Sen. John Kerry has asserted, and that the world should thank Israel for swapping land with Palestinians.

Without mentioning Mr. Kerry by name, the president made clear that he disagreed with the Massachusetts Democrat’s remark last week that the goal in Iraq is stability, not democracy.

Asked by a newspaper executive who cited Mr. Kerry’s remark whether democracy in Iraq is an option or an imperative, the president replied: “It’s necessary.”

“It’s what will change the world — help change the world,” he said at a Washington gathering of the Newspaper Association of America, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press. “And you either believe people can self-govern, or not.”

Similarly, he said, people can disagree over whether “democracy is possible in that part of the world.”

“And I think it is.”

Last week, Mr. Kerry said the United States should not wait until democracy takes hold in Iraq to withdraw military forces.

“With respect to getting our troops out, the measure is the stability of Iraq,” he said. He added that democracy “shouldn’t be the measure of when you leave.”

“I have always said from Day One that the goal here,” he added, “is a stable Iraq, not whether or not that’s a full democracy.”

The president, in a wide-ranging speech that was followed by a question-and-answer session, issued his strongest endorsement yet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to annex portions of the West Bank from the Palestinians. In return, Mr. Sharon pledged last week to withdraw Jewish settlements from other portions of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip.

“In my judgment, the whole world should have said, ‘Thank you, Ariel,’ ” Mr. Bush said. “Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian state.

“Yet there was kind of silence, wasn’t there? Because the responsibility is hard,” he added. “It’s hard to be responsible for promoting freedom and peace when you’re used to something else.”

It was a reference to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose support for terrorism has prompted Mr. Sharon to disengage from efforts to negotiate a final peace agreement with the Palestinians. Both he and Mr. Bush are pushing for the emergence of new Palestinian leadership.

“The Palestinian leadership has failed the people year after year after year,” he said. “And now is the time for the world to step up and take advantage of this opportunity and help to build a Palestinian state that’s committed to the principles of individual rights, and rule of law.”

The president was occasionally jocular with the newspaper executives, at one point addressing those at the head table as “members of the Politburo.” The editors and publishers chuckled at this reference to the chief political and executive committee of the Communist Party.

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